Don Cherry was on the radio this morning, talking about how fighting is
required in hockey, and he was going to convince me, the listener, why this
is true. I’m not a fan of fighting in hockey (or lacrosse), so I waited to be
astonished by his insight. He proceeded to tell stories about how so-and-so star
player (Gretzky et al) were “untouchable” and if anyone “looked sideways” at
them, someone would take them out. He called this “protection”. As I’ve stated
before, I don’t have a problem with sending your resident goon out after
someone if he hits your star player with a cheap shot. But what Cherry
and Kypreos and others who advocate fighting don’t seem to “get” is that Wayne
Gretzky and other star players are not just stars, they’re hockey
players, and part of hockey is getting checked. If you’re a star player
like Crosby or Malkin or Nash and you’re heading towards the offensive zone with the puck, you better expect to get hit. If that’s too much for you and you need this
much “protection” (not from cheap shots but from legal checks), then you have no business being in the NHL. This notion of having “untouchable” players is just silly.

Cherry even told one story he told about someone who bumped his star
player accidentally (and Cherry agreed it was accidental), and got
beaten up anyway. He actually laughed when he said that his goon grabbed
the other player by the hair (no helmets in those days) and slammed his head into
the boards. Yo Don, does the name “Steve Moore” mean anything to you? Cherry’s
entertaining and all, but what an idiot.